Far Away
by esmtz
Summary: Nickelback. After Elena chooses Damon over him Stefan leaves town thinking it's what's best for his brother. What's Damon's reaction when he finally sees him again.
1. Chapter 1

Far Away

By: esmtz

It had been weeks since Elena broke up with Stefan and told Damon that she loved him. Stefan was still hurting because of the fact that the girl that he was still in love with was in love with his brother and it was clearly showing every time he saw them together. He was not only feeling hurt but also angry and betrayed by both his brother and Elena. Stefan watched from afar as Damon and Elena sat down at a table in a restaurant and just looked at each other happily. Stefan couldn't help but feel jealous when he saw the smile on Elena's face as she spoke to Damon. He then looked at Damon and saw how happy his brother really was to finally have the girl that he wanted. Stefan found himself unable to look away from his brother as for once in a really long time he could see the love in Damon's eyes. Stefan started to feel guilty as he knew that Damon had been in pain for a long time thanks to him. In the end he knew that despite the fact that he was hurting and angry at Damon for taking Elena away from him Stefan was still happy that his brother finally got what he wanted.

'I've never seen him look that happy not even when we were closer.' Stefan thought as he continued to watch Damon and Elena talk to each other.

At that moment Stefan was not only jealous of Damon making Elena happy but he was also jealous of the fact that Elena was the only person Damon currently loved.

'What did you expect? Of course he was going to hate you after what you did to him.' Stefan thought to himself sadly, '…and that's not going to change.'

Sure Stefan knew that there were times where Damon showed his concern for him but he already knew that it was only because of Elena's influence that made Damon decide to worry about him. As much as he wanted to hate Damon for not being a better brother Stefan knew that it was his fault that Damon was the way that he was before he met Elena. The more he thought about it the more he realized that it would be better for Damon if Stefan left town and never came back.

'It's about time that Damon finally got what he wanted. All that's left is for me to leave and to never come back. I owe him that.' Stefan thought.

Stefan smiled slightly to himself as he saw the pure happiness on Damon's face.

'I'm happy for you that you finally got what you wanted brother. Maybe one day you'll completely forget about the pain that I put you through. At least for now you won't be reminded of it because I'll be out of your life for good. Goodbye, Damon. I love you and I'm sorry.'

Stefan looked at Damon and Elena for a few more seconds before he turned and made his way back to the boarding house. As soon as he got there he quickly started packing some of his things into bags and quickly put them into his car. It didn't take long before he was done as he got into his car and pulled out of where he had it and started driving away from the boarding house.

'The first thing that I gotta do is to make sure that Bonnie or any other witch cannot possibly find me using a locator spell.' Stefan thought to himself wondering who he could possibly ask for that kind of help.

To his horror the only person that was coming to mind was Klaus Mikaelson.

'I really don't want to have to ask Klaus for his help but it seems like I have no other choice.' Stefan thought.

Stefan was willing to do whatever it took to make sure that Damon never saw him again even if it meant once again doing whatever Klaus wanted him to do.

'I just hope that he'll be willing to help me out.' Stefan thought not sure if Klaus would even be okay with helping him out again.

As he continued to make his way out of Mystic Falls Stefan found his thoughts going right back to Damon and Elena as he remembered all of the memories that he had with them both individually and together.

'It sucks to admit it but it really hurts knowing that I'll never see them again.' Stefan thought thinking more about Damon than Elena.

The one thing that Stefan regretted was being unable to make up with his brother. Damon would now never know how much Stefan truly loved him and how sorry he was for everything that happened between them.

'I guess in the end it doesn't matter as long as Damon's happy.' Stefan thought hoping that everything goes better for Damon once he's gone.

Stefan was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his phone go off next to him. He picked it up and saw that Caroline was trying to call him. Stefan sighed.

"I better make sure to throw this away." Stefan said as he waited for his phone to stop ringing.

Once it stopped ringing he quickly turned off his phone and the moment he made it just outside of Mystic Falls he opened his window and threw his phone as far away from him as he could.

'I'm sorry, Caroline.' Stefan thought thinking that he would have to explain to her later about why he left without telling her anything.

Stefan took one last look at Mystic Falls through his rearview mirror before focusing his attention on the road in front of him.

Author's Note: Just a heads up this is supposed to be a short fic but knowing my luck it might be longer we'll just have to wait and see how this turns out. Next chapter is a time jump just so you guys are aware. I hope you guys like it. Happy Thanksgiving.


	2. Chapter 2

Far Away

By: esmtz

It had been a little over five years since Stefan left Mystic Falls and during that time all he could think about was how much he missed his brother and Caroline. In the end Stefan had decided to not call Caroline and tell her why he left without telling her anything. He thought that it was better for her if she just forgot about him and moved on with her life. Not only that but he didn't want to risk Caroline accidentally telling Damon where he was at. Plus if she knew what he was doing with Klaus she would do nothing but worry about him and probably get Damon and Elena involved. Back when he first left Mystic Falls Stefan had managed to make it to New Orleans and talk to Klaus about possibly helping him out again. At first Klaus was reluctant to help him but after being convinced by his family members he changed his mind and said that he would help him out as long as Stefan came to him whenever he called on him to help with family troubles. Much to his surprise after all these years of helping out Klaus and his family with their problems Stefan found himself actually liking hanging out with them. By this point he could almost say that Klaus was his friend.

'I never thought that I'd see the day where Klaus and I actually became friends.' Stefan thought completely amazed on how they went from being enemies to something like friends.

Stefan currently was out in the woods hunting for food as he had run out of what he had at home. In the middle of hunting he found himself thinking about everything that's happened since he left Mystic Falls years ago.

'I hope Damon, Elena and Caroline are doing okay back home.' Stefan thought as he kept his eyes and ears open for any signs of animals around.

As he kept searching around for food Stefan found himself thinking about how surprising it was that so far there hadn't been any signs of Damon or even Caroline trying to find him.

'I guess that spell Freya put on me actually worked unless they didn't even bother to look for me.' Stefan thought doubting that they didn't try to look for him.

All of a sudden Stefan heard a noise coming from behind him making him turn around only to find himself face to face with a werewolf.

'Shit!' Stefan thought as he vamp ran away from him.

The werewolf was extremely fast as he was able to keep up with Stefan. It wasn't long before the werewolf completely caught up to him and managed to jump on top of Stefan. Stefan fell and managed to land on his back as he struggled to push the werewolf off of him. The werewolf was trying his best to kill him as Stefan's strength slowly left him.

'This isn't good!' Stefan thought as the werewolf's teeth got closer to him.

Stefan watched in horror as the werewolf sunk his teeth into his right arm and bit so hard Stefan let out a cry of pain. Before he could do more damage to him the werewolf was suddenly pushed off of him making Stefan look up only to find out that another vampire had showed up and had saved his life. Before the werewolf could react the mysterious vampire quickly ran towards him and ripped his heart out of his chest killing him instantly. Stefan slowly started to get up as he looked at the strangers back curiously.

"Thanks for that. I had no idea that anyone else was out here." Stefan said wincing at the pain in his right arm as he looked at the bite mark.

Stefan looked back at the stranger and noticed immediately that they looked tense. Stefan frowned slightly as they slowly turned around to face him. Stefan's eyes went wide in horror as he saw that it was Caroline who had saved him. She was looking at him with fear and pain in her eyes as she started to shake slightly.

"…Stefan." Caroline whispered as tears started to form in her eyes.

Before Stefan or Caroline could say anything else a voice was heard yelling out Caroline's name. Stefan winced when he saw Elena suddenly appear next to Caroline.

"Caroline, is everything o…," Elena cut herself off as she saw that Stefan was right in front of her, "…Stefan?"

Elena's eyes went wide in horror as she saw the bite mark on Stefan's arm making him quickly move his arm behind his back.

"Stefan-"

"Is Damon here?" Stefan quickly asked ignoring the looks on Elena's and Caroline's faces.

"Yes he's here but Stefan-"

"Please don't-"

Stefan was cut off when he heard his brother yell out his name. Before he could even attempt to run away Damon was instantly in front of him with a very angry look on his face. Stefan winced as Damon immediately put his hands on Stefan's shoulders stopping him from going anywhere.

"It's about damn time that I found you, Stefan. Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!" Damon said with anger and pain showing in his eyes.

Stefan was shocked to hear that Damon was actually worried about him. Normally Damon just got angry to cover up whatever else he was feeling but right now it was obvious to Stefan that Damon was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check.

"Damon-"

"No, Stefan you're going to listen to me. I've been looking for you for five years now and during that time do you know what I was thinking? I was thinking I hope to god that Stefan isn't dead because for some reason Bonnie and even other witches couldn't seem to find you with their locator spells! I literally had to get other people to look for you for me! It took this long for one of them to call me up and tell me that they finally found you!" Damon said with nothing but pain in his eyes, "I thought someone kidnapped you, Stefan! I thought that they had already-"

"Damon." Elena said trying to get his attention.

"Not now, Elena." Damon replied not wanting to be interrupted as he was still feeling emotional.

"But, Damon it's important." Elena said.

Damon rolled his eyes before he turned to face her.

"What?" Damon asked.

Damon finally realized that Caroline had been crying as he saw her break down into sobs as tears fell down her face. He frowned slightly as he looked at her and Elena.

"Why is Barbie crying?" Damon asked.

Elena hesitated for a second before answering him.

"…Stefan was bit, Damon."

Author's Note: Well looks like the story did end up being a little longer than what I thought it was going to be. It was supposed to be done with this chapter but oh well not yet I guess. I just wanted to thank everyone who reviewed my story as they did help me to continue with the story as soon as I could. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can but that could take awhile as I restarted watching the vampire diaries so anyway I hope you guys liked this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Far Away

By: esmtz

Damon just looked at Elena not sure if he heard what he heard.

"…What?" Damon asked.

"Stefan was bit, Damon." Elena repeated.

Damon's eyes went wide in horror as he suddenly noticed the dead werewolf behind Elena and Caroline before he turned back to face his brother who was looking at the ground avoiding looking at him.

"Stefan?" Damon asked immediately feeling fear spread through him.

Stefan sighed as he slowly moved his arm in front of him to show Damon the werewolf bite. Damon immediately grabbed a hold of Stefan's arm as he just stared at the bite mark which was slowly healing. Stefan looked at his brother only to see the fear that was clearly showing in Damon's eyes. It looked like Damon wasn't breathing as he refused to look away from the bite mark.

"…Damon?" Stefan asked.

Damon looked back up at Stefan with nothing but pain and fear in his eyes. He didn't say anything for a few seconds as he tried to keep himself from breaking down.

"…Do you hate me that much, Stefan?" Damon suddenly asked thinking he got himself bit on purpose. Stefan winced.

"…I don't hate you, Damon. The bite mark was just a coincidence." Stefan told him.

Damon just looked at Stefan not sure if he was telling the truth or not. The only thing that he knew was that he needed to save his brother's life by asking Klaus for his help.

"We need to get you to Klaus and ask him for his help." Damon said looking at Stefan with a very serious look on his face.

"No, Damon." Stefan instantly replied making Damon, Elena and Caroline look at him with shocked expressions on their faces.

"…What?" Damon asked looking completely hurt.

Stefan sighed.

"Don't you remember what happened the last time that I saved you from the werewolf bite? It ended up really bad for me so it's just going to end up the same way if we do that again." Stefan told him not wanting him to know that he was currently on good terms with Klaus.

"I'm not going to let you die, Stefan." Damon replied.

"You don't have a choice, Damon." Stefan said.

He knew that it sounded cruel but in the end Stefan thought that it was better for Damon if he thought that he was dead. Damon would no longer have to worry about his brother messing up his life and the anger that he felt would be gone. Stefan tried hard to not wince at the hurt look that Damon was giving him. Damon put his hands on Stefan's arms and gripped them tightly.

"…You can't do this to me, Stef." Damon softly said.

Stefan didn't say anything for a few seconds as he could clearly see how much pain Damon was in.

"…I'm sorry, Damon. I didn't mean to get bitten but in the end I did. I'm sure that your life will be better off without me in it anyway." Stefan said.

Damon shook his head as tears started to form in his eyes and fall down his face as he brought Stefan into a hug.

"…No." Damon whispered hugging his brother tightly to him.

Stefan just looked at him completely surprised at how his brother was reacting. He wrapped his arms around his big brother and hugged him back.

"You're going to be fine, Damon. You have Elena remember?" Stefan told him.

Stefan's eyes met Elena's as she just looked at him sadly. She had her arms wrapped around Caroline as Caroline was practically crying into her shoulder. Damon slowly pulled back so he could look his brother directly in the eyes.

"…I'm sorry, Stefan." Damon said.

Before Stefan could react Damon quickly snapped his neck.

Author's Note: First off I just wanted to say how sorry I am that this chapter is extremely short. I wanted to make it longer but when I read it to me it looked good like this as one chapter plus I wanted to put the next scene in a new chapter plus I wanted to give you guys something and not make you wait any longer if you guys are still reading this. Anyway I hope you guys are doing okay under these circumstances and hopefully I'll get out the next chapter soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Far Away

By: esmtz

By the time Stefan woke up he found himself lying on something soft as well as feeling an intense pain in his right arm. His eyes slowly opened as he realized that he wasn't feeling very well. He slowly started to sit up but was suddenly pushed back down making him look up only to find that Caroline was sitting on a chair next to him looking at him worriedly.

"…Caroline?" Stefan asked wondering where he was at.

"Relax, Stefan you're going to be fine." Caroline told him.

Stefan frowned slightly.

"Where are we?" Stefan asked.

"We're at Klaus's place. Damon and Elena went to go find him since he's not here at the moment." Caroline replied.

Stefan winced.

"Caroline, I told you guys that I don't want to be saved." Stefan said.

"Well you don't get to decide that on your own, Stefan!" Caroline said looking at him completely hurt.

Stefan winced at the amount of pain he saw in Caroline's eyes.

"…It's for the best, Caroline letting me die…it's what's best for you and Damon." Stefan said.

Caroline just looked at him completely shocked and hurt to hear him say that.

"…No it's not, Stefan. I need you." Caroline told him.

"No you don't, Caroline because let's face it you're way better at living as a vampire than I am." Stefan said.

"Maybe so but you're the one who taught me how to be a vampire in the first place plus you're the one who said that you would be here for me when I needed help." Caroline said making Stefan wince.

"…I know and I'm sorry but, Caroline I got bit by a werewolf and you know what that means. I refuse to let you or Damon pay the price just so that Klaus can save my life." Stefan said.

Caroline was just about to say something when suddenly they heard a knock on the door. The door opened and in came Klaus, Damon and Elena. Stefan tried not to wince as Klaus got closer to him.

"Well look who we have here, Stefan Salvatore. Your brother here tells me that you were bitten by a werewolf and needs my help. Judging from the fact that you don't look too good I'd say he was right." Klaus said clearly trying to act like he hadn't seen Stefan in years.

Stefan just looked at him assuming that he hadn't told Damon about their arrangement.

"…Yeah I was bitten but I don't need your help, Klaus." Stefan told him.

Caroline and Elena looked at Stefan in horror whereas Damon looked at him completely angry.

"Don't be stubborn, Stefan!" Damon said, "You're getting his help whether you want it or not!"

Stefan looked at his brother surprised that he cared that much about him.

"…Klaus, can you give us a minute?" Stefan asked.

Klaus nodded before turning and leaving the room. As soon as Klaus was gone Stefan was about to say something to Damon but he quickly cut him off.

"Don't, Stefan. I already know what you're going to say so for the last time I'm not going to just let you die little brother." Damon said looking at him with a serious look in his eyes.

"…It's not worth it, Damon. Whatever deal you made with Klaus it's not worth you doing whatever he wants just to save my life." Stefan said looking back at his brother.

Damon just looked at him feeling completely hurt that his little brother didn't want to be saved.

"…So you can save my life but I can't save yours?" Damon asked trying to keep the hurt out of his voice.

"…Damon, he'll take away your chance at being happy with Elena. That's what you want isn't it?" Stefan asked.

Damon didn't say anything as he just looked at Stefan.

'…Not at the cost of losing you little brother.' Damon thought.

Stefan was about to say something else when all of a sudden his vision started to swim. He was suddenly aware of how hot he was as he closed his eyes and put his right hand on his forehead.

"Stefan?" Damon asked worriedly as he got closer to him and put his hand on Stefan's shoulder.

Damon could literally feel the heat coming off his brother as he saw that Stefan was having a hard time staying awake. Damon quickly cupped his brother's face in his hands and just looked at him in fear.

"Stay with me, Stefan. Stay with me! Klaus!" Damon yelled.

The moment he heard Damon yell out his name Klaus was immediately back in the room and was looking at Stefan with a worried look in his eyes. Caroline was on the verge of breaking down into tears while Elena just looked at Stefan worriedly. Damon turned his head to look back at Klaus.

"Hurry up and heal him, Klaus!" Damon told him.

Stefan slowly moved his right hand to grip Damon's arm slightly. He tried to look at his brother but Stefan's vision was completely making him feel dizzy.

"…No." Stefan softly said trying to prevent his brother from saving his life.

Damon turned his attention back to his little brother.

"You're not dying on me, Stefan! I'm not going to watch you die!" Damon told him before moving out of the way so that Klaus can get closer to Stefan.

Just as Klaus got closer to him and started feeding him his blood Stefan started to lose consciousness the last thing he saw was Damon's worried look.


End file.
